


Caught in the Way You Caught Me

by KaeBird13



Series: A Sunday Afternoon [2]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Humor, background cassie/steph/kara, but hey i didn't forget about duke this time, like a really nice hotel, man idk im exhausted, there is so much fluff in this it could pass as a hotel pillow, this is probably not what the tags were created for, written because i decided that background harper/cass in coffee in a paper cup wasn't good enough
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 18:04:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9670034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaeBird13/pseuds/KaeBird13
Summary: "Music was playing in her mind and she used her hands and mouth to move to the rhythm, smearing the lyrics onto Harper’s lips."Harper is having a hard time stopping herself from dropping the 'L' word and Cass steals everybody's shirts.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Title of this fic comes from the song Girls/Girls/Boys by Panic! At the Disco. This is a birthday present for my friend Jean, or @pansexualcassiecain on tumblr! You don't have to read Coffee in a Paper Cup in order to get this fic. Just note that there is background cassiestephkara (that's Cassie Sandsmark, not Cain) in this fic. I decided that suggested Harper/Cass wasn't good enough and that they deserved their own story, thus this was born. Plus I wanted to do something for Jean's birthday!

 

When Harper Row woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, she knew that she had slept in _way_ too late. She groaned and blinked her eyes open, glaring at the ceiling with distaste. Ugh, mornings, being groggy, fun stuff. It took her a second to process that not only was her phone ringing, it wasn't the generic ringtone she normally left it at. It was specialized by Cassandra so that Harper would know exactly when her girlfriend was calling her. (In other words, Cass got annoyed by Harper's habit of ignoring phone calls. After a few warnings and a serious threat that Cass would steal her phone and change all of her ringtones to a recording of an off-key duet by Jason and Tim singing the Bohemian Rapsody, Harper had conceded and chose a cheerful, whistling tune to be Cass's personal ringtone. Though the question remained as to _why_ exactly Cass had a recording of the worst rendition of the Bohemian Rapsody that Harper has ever had the misfortune of hearing.)

She swiped the phone off her nightstand and pressed the answer button a second before the call went to voicemail. "Hello?" She stifled a yawn.

" _Sleeping?"_ Cass's voice greeted her warmly, with a hint of teasing.

"No, no, I'm awake. Totally." Harper pulled the phone away from her face, grimacing as the glass screen tugged at her cheek, having been briefly stuck to the oils on her skin. "At. . . noon? Holy shit it's noon. I mean, I've been up for hours. Working out and all that. . . jazz. . ."

Cass giggled and Harper felt butterflies wake up in the pit of her stomach. They had been dating for three months, been official for two, yet Cass could still make her squander like a thirteen year-old schoolgirl with a crush with just a laugh. God, what this girl did to her. . . To hear all of that fondness and love directed at her still blew Harper's mind.

" _Studying?"_ Cass's voice rose like she was asking a question, but the confident way she bit out the word suggested she already knew the answer. Harper sat up and ran a hand through her hair. Ew, she was in desperate need of a shower. Her math textbook was on the floor, pages bent underneath the hardcover from when she had angrily shoved it off her bed. Calculus is a bitch.

"Yeah," Harper sighed, still trying to burn a hole through her textbook with her eyes. "I was up late last night trying to figure out how limits work."  
" _I know."_

A sharp glance at her window confirmed a small smudge on the pane. Harper pictured Cass hanging on the fire escape just outside her window, nose pressed to the glass as she watched Harper mentally wrestle with numbers. "You could have come in, you know." She would have welcomed any distraction, especially if it had involved her ridiculously stunning girlfriend.

" _Didn't want to disturb you. Stayed the night at Steph's instead. Left my shirt there, will you pick it up for me please?"_

Ooh, if Harper remembered right, Stephanie had invited her girlfriends to spend the weekend at her place. This should be interesting. "Sure. I'm going to get a shower first then I'll head out. Want me to drop it off at your place or just bring it back here?"

" _Your place."_

Harper grinned even as the butterflies started making a ruckus in her intestines. "Great. Lo-" The word got stuck on her tongue as it tried to slip out. Damnnit! Were they at that point in their relationship yet? _Harper_ felt that way, but what if _Cass_ didn't? What if Harper said it too soon and Cass freaked out? She couldn't read people like Cass could! "Lo- lots of things to do today! Talk to you later, bye."

She threw her phone across the bed and buried her face into the crook of her elbow. Smooth, real smooth.

*****

Stephanie Brown's apartment was on the second floor of moderately nice complex. Harper had been there so many times that she could probably walk from her place to Stephanie's with her eyes closed. Which was not a good idea, especially in Gotham. She'd probably get hit by a car or robbed, maybe even get hit by a car _while_ she was being robbed. You just never know in this hellish city. Harper had sent out a quick text while she was pulling on her shoes to Stephanie, and the blonde had informed her that she was out with Tim for the day.

That left Harper staring at Steph's apartment from across the street, wishing she could see through all of the brick and drywall. Was the apartment empty? Were Steph's girlfriends inside? Harper had met quite a few superheroes during her brief stint with the Batman, but still. . . _Supergirl,_ and _Wonder Girl._ They were, wow, they were everything Harper admired. (Not as cool as Cassandra though, but then again, nobody was as cool as Cass.) Tim had once described Steph's apartment as a train station. People came and went as they pleased; you never knew who you would find in there.

Well, there was no point in getting anxious now; if you've met one super you've met them all. With that in mind, Harper crossed the street and started climbing the fire escape to Stephanie's bedroom window. Harper had personally made sure that the security cameras for the building skipped over this particular region. (The Bat-certified cameras on the opposite building still kept the place secure.) The window opened just as Harper pulled herself to the second floor. Out came Damian Wayne, his face red and his jaw clenched tight.

"Itty-bitty bat!" He sputtered when he saw Harper. "Itty...!"

Why he said that, she had no idea; Harper was well-versed in every electrical matter, but how that kid's mind was wired was a complete mystery to her. Harper raised an eyebrow. "I'll make sure that Timothy knows that's your new choice in nicknames."

The four foot six inches bundle of rage snarled at her and rolled onto his tiptoes to gain extra height. Harper looked at his squishy little face, cheeks red and plump with babyfat and had to remember that this kid was one of the most deadly people she knew. Even if he did look like a toddler who just had his favorite toy stollen. "Don't you dare, Row."

Harper leaned in close, knowing full well that she was poking the bear with a sharp, annoying pointy stick. Kid would probably fight his own shadow if he thought it looked at him funny. "Try me, half-pint."

For a moment it looked like Damian would start throwing punches, but he hesitated. Harper wished it was because she was intimidating, but Damian probably remembered that Harper's girlfriend could clean the floor with his scrawny little ass. (And ooh boy, would she pay good money to see that happen.) Fists clenched and a stormy scowl that suggested he was plotting mass murder, Damian pushed passed her, knocking his shoulder into her arm. "Cain's taste in women is atrocious."

Debating the merits of jumping down on his puffed-up head and pounding _Cassandra Cain is the most wonderful woman in this entire fucking world_ into his jaw, Harper shrugged. Would it be worth it? Totally. Would Cass's disappointed frown be the most painful thing she ever saw? Hell yes. Instead, she popped open Steph's window and climbed into the apartment.

It was like stepping into another dimension. Steph's room was _clean_. Harper could actually see the floor. The bed was made. The dresser and the pictures even looked like they had been dusted. The shock took a moment to get over; if Steph cleaned her place every time her girlfriends came over, then Harper would personally make sure they visited at least once a month.

She heard the soft murmuring of a television and followed the noise into the cramped living room. The sight in there was so cute that Harper had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. She didn't want Kara-motherfreaking-Danvers and Cassie-motherfreaking-Sandsmark to think she was an overzealous fangirl (even if she _was_ inwardly fanning herself off). Cassie was laying on the generic blue carpet on her stomach, feet propped up in the air with her ankles crossed. Kara was sitting on her bottom, slightly hunched over as she kneaded the muscles in Cassie's back. Cassie's big azure eyes were bright, like she had just been laughing. Kara, on the other hand, had a small crinkle between her eyebrows.

Play it cool, Row. "Sup, guys."

Oh wow, that was lame. Really? Sup? Who the heck said that anymore?

Kara's eyes flitted from Harper to Stephanie's door and then back to Harper. "Does anyone ever use the front door?" She inquired.

Just like that, Harper felt all the tension she didn't know she was carrying leave her shoulders. Ah, the classic inside joke. It had started with Cass and her habit of basically crashing on a different couch every night. One day she had remarked that it was easier to get into Steph's apartment through her window than to go through the complex, climb up two flights of stairs and then travel through a long hallway. Since then _nobody_ came in through the front door. (Except maybe Alfred, the butler was a stickler for proper things like that.)

"Stephanie has a front door?" Harper gave the usual response with a smile. Kara's mouth twisted downwards in thought and Cassie let out a chuckle. "Anyway, I'm not planning on interrupting for long, but have either of you seen Cass's shirt? She thinks she left it here last night."

Cassie and Kara traded expressions. Kara's lips twitched upwards and she patted Cassie on the back. The other blonde loomed mildly disturbed. "It's in the bathroom sink." There was a ghost of _something_ in the way she said that (horror? disgust? shock?).

Harper sighed through her nose. Great, if Cass left her shirt in the sink it was probably soaked in something Harper would rather not touch without wearing gloves. "Thanks," She nodded. "Later."

She backtracked to the pint-sized bathroom and sure enough she found a plain black shirt crumpled up in the sink. She smelled the rusty iron scent of blood before she saw the crimson splatters on the white tempered glass. Lovely. Worry that the blood belonged to her girlfriend unsettled her stomach, but she pushed it off. Cass would have (probably) told her if she got hurt. Harper made a mental note to ask that night when her girlfriend came over.

Turning on the water, she rinsed out the shirt and watched as distilled pink drifted down the drain. A thought struck her; there was a high chance that Cass had left this place this morning wearing one of Stephanie's shirts. She squeezed the fabric to get out as much of the foreign liquid as she could and wondered which one. Steph had an adorable yellow and purple crop top that Harper had imagined Cass wearing more than once.

Speaking of Cass stealing shirts, Harper was 98% sure that her girlfriend still had that jean jacket she had been looking for for days. Just like it was common knowledge that nobody used Steph's front door, everyone just accepted the fact that Cassandra Cain was a serial shirt thief. Cass's favorite sleeping shirt was once Dick's (Harper figured, it had an elephant donned in circus garb holding a balloon with its trunk and was several sizes too large). She had a couple of Tim's band t-shirts, a few grungy tanks from Jason, several of Harper's flannel, and like three of Steph's cutesy blouses. The only ones safe from her thievery were Damian (whose clothes were too small for her, but the rate he was growing he had better watch out), Alfred (nobody messed with Alfred, not even Cass), Duke (Cass didn't feel like she knew him well enough yet to start kidnapping his clothes) and Bruce (because he only had dress shirts and white cotton undershirts).

Harper shook out the shirt and frowned at the darker splotches of discoloration. Huh, so blood could stain a black shirt. She would take it to Barbara; she would know how to get blood stains out of clothing. The cut and style of the shirt reminded Harper of her absolute favorite shirt of Cassandra's. It had been the shirt Cass had been wearing the second time that Harper met her.

The first had been back when she was still fighting crime with Batman as Bluebird. She had heard rumours that there was a new Batgirl, but she had yet to meet Batman's new, silent partner. Until Batgirl had dropped down into the middle of a group of goons Harper had been fighting and wiped them out in three seconds flat. She had taken Harper's breath away; so elegant and powerful, it had made her knees go weak.

The next morning Harper had gone to Steph's to gush about and learn more about the stunning and mysterious new girl. She hadn't been expecting the most beautiful woman Harper has ever seen to answer the door, but that's what happened. Cass had looked like she had just woken up; her hair was bunched up and knotted on one side, there was a smudge of dirt on her cheek, and her pretty pink lips had opened up into an o as she yawned. She took away Harper's breath then too.

"Here for Steph?" The black-haired goddess on earth had asked, the words stretched out as they followed her yawn.

_Holy mother shit._ Harper had thought as she blinked. The girl in front of her hid another yawn behind her hand and looked at her expectantly. Oh! Harper had forgotten to reply.

"No. Wait! Yes, I meant yes. I am here to see Stephanie."

The girl opened the door wider and invited her in. Harper stepped into the living room and glanced around for her friend. Nobody. The door shut behind her and she turned back to the new girl who was studying her with bright eyes and a smile.

"Harper?" She touched her chin with her pointer finger.

Harper started. "Yeah, how'd you know my name?"

With a large grin, she moved her finger and jabbed herself on the chest. "Batgirl."

She. . . she was batgirl. That stunning force of nature was also this stunning force of nature. Her newest crush was fucking gorgeous underneath that mask. One again, _holy mother shit._ "So we met last night then. I'm Harper Row, but you probably already knew that."

She really needed to ask Stephanie where she had been hiding her from Harper's bisexual ass.

The girl hesitated for a moment, her eyebrows drawn together by nervousness. "Cassandra Cain," She cautiously offered her name. Harper blinked again; Cassandra, that was a pretty name.

"So. . ." Harper trailed off. Should she spill how much she admired her? No, take the safer, less embarrassing route. "Is Steph here?"

Cassandra shook her head. Harper got distracted at the way the black fibers fluttered and framed her face like Cass was on a shampoo commercial. Her hair looked gloriously soft. "Back soon, though."

"Kay, I'll wait." Harper stuck her hands into her hoodie pocket and tried to mentally repel the awkwardness away. Cass was still smiling at her, but one of her hands rose to fidget with the hem of her shirt. The shirt was a black slim fit with words scripted in a light blue. Harper focused on the words and felt her insides melt a little once she realized what it said. There was a soft cough and Harper's eyes snapped back to Cassandra, who was looking at her with raised eyebrows.

Her face flushed. "Oh, sorry! I wasn't staring at your shirt I was reading your tits."

It took a solid thirty seconds for her to realized what she had just said. Harper had sucked her in her bottom lip and closed her eyes, wishing that death would take her swiftly.

The memory made Harper chuckle. Luckily for her, Cass had found her slip of the tongue to be hilarious. Harper gave the shirt one last squeeze and exited Stephanie's apartment via the bedroom window.

* * *

When Cassandra Cain woke up early Sunday morning, she almost forgot where she was. Cocooned in her blankets, she had been so warm and comfortable that she almost went back to sleep. Her hand slipped out from underneath her nest and groped around for Harper's, but met empty, cold air instead of the warm, smooth skin of her girlfriend's. A frustrated groan slipped out and Cass blinked open her eyes in disappointment. That's right; she went over to Steph's place last night because Harper had been studying for university entrance exams.

Steph's couch was definitely more comfortable than Dick's or Tim's, but nothing could compare waking up before the sun rose and listening to the sound of Harper breathing. She shed her cocoon and began doing her morning stretches on the living room carpet. The room was too small to do her full morning workout, but she was heading to the manor later for breakfast. Alfred's mother had a heart attack yesterday, and he and Bruce were leaving later today to England to visit her. Dick and Steph had suggested that they all gather this morning for breakfast to see Alfred off. Cass thought it was a wonderful idea; the rest had grumbled but Alfred looked so pleased at the suggestion that nobody said no. There was just no way any of them would willingly displease the butler.

She finished her stretches a quarter to seven, around the same time that Stephanie's alarm woke her up. Cass heard muted voices and then a loud, clear "five more minutes, mom,". Her blonde best friend stumbled into the living room several minutes later, her hair scrunched up like a bird's nest on her head. She looked at Cass, who had been awake for over an hour and had already started to get ready for the day, with disgust.

"Six forty-five is too early to be alive." Steph pouted. "I don't care that their flight leaves in four hours, I'm going back to bed." (If Bruce had had his way, they would already be at the airport waiting for their flight right now. It was only after _everyone_ had put their foot down to having breakfast at the unholy hour of three in the morning that he finally relented. Seriously though, what was with father-figures and being preposterously early to the airport?)

Cass raised her eyebrows. With a sigh, Steph rolled her eyes and went to start the coffee. While Steph used the bathroom, Cass slipped into the bedroom to snag one of her shirts. She had gotten blood on the t-shirt she was wearing yesterday after she had left Harper's. She had passed by an alleyway (dressed as a civilian as she had been done with patrol for the night), when she had seen four men crowding a young waitress. Their intentions had would have been clear even to people who couldn't read body language like her. Cass might have gotten carried away dealing out their punishment, but she did not regret it. Not one bit. She didn't kill anyone, but all four of them might have five or six broken bones that were perhaps a bit excessive. The hug she had gotten from the still-terrified but grateful girl had warmed her heart.

She didn't mind what shirt she got, so Cass quietly popped open the dresser drawer and blindly plucked one out of the overstuffed container. To her immense satisfaction, neither of Steph's girlfriends even twitched during her escapade (the satisfaction made greater by the fact that one of them had super-hearing). The shirt she fished out was a yellow that was a shade just below obscene and Cass pursed her lips. It would probably be a good color on her. Maybe. Eh, it didn't matter if it looked good on her or not, she was wearing it anyway.

Steph finished her business in the bathroom ("you left a bloody shirt in my sink," "floor?" "yeah no, I'm grateful that you didn't leave it on the floor") and poured them each a mug of coffee. Cass sipped at it politely, but coffee wasn't really her thing. Steph and Tim though sometimes acted like they were trying to change their bloodtype to the dark liquid.

They should really get going to be on time, but there was something relaxing about sitting at the tiny table and warming their fingers on their cups. Cass closed her eyes and tuned out everything but the sound of Stephanie breathing. In and out, long and deep, completely appeased.

"Whacha planning to do after breakfast?" Stephanie broke the silence.

Cass blinked her eyes open and thought about that for a moment. What she would really like to do was see Harper, but her girlfriend might want to be studying again today. She knew from trying to teach herself how to read that having another person in the room really broke your focus. She should let Steph have the day to spend with Kara and Cassie, but she also didn't want to be alone.

"See the puppies," Cass muttered, mostly to herself. Her eldest brother, Dick, had recently gotten two golden retriever and german shepherd mix puppies and Cass had yet to meet them. She loved being around animals; dogs especially. Their body language always radiated pure happiness and Cass would sit there and soak it in.

Stephanie took a long gulp of her coffee and sighed in satisfaction. "Dick would love having you over. ...We should probably head out now."

Cass refrained from pointing out they should have left fifteen minutes ago and nodded.

*****

The door to Dick's apartment in Blüdhaven open with a sudden bang that startled Cass and something big and fluffy hit her square in the chest. Her mind snapped into battle mode and she caught the thing by the scruff of the neck and prepared to launch the mofo right into the sun. The puppy yipped excitedly and wriggled around, trying to lick her wrist. Cass blinked and relaxed her stance.

"Oh _motherfu-_ another one incoming! Don't let them escape!" She heard Dick curse from inside and the pounding of feet. A second blob of fur shot out from the doorway and Cass barely managed to grab its tail with her free hand as it bounded to the breaktaking outdoors. She winced as it howled with displeasure and her mood sank with guilt. Poor puppy, she didn't mean to yank its tail. Dick appeared half a second later and scooped the second one off the ground. It squealed in delight and began to ravish Dick's face with its tongue.

"Um, hi Cass," Dick smiled sheepishly, barely avoiding having the puppy lick the inside of his mouth. "Great catch."

Cass shifted her hold on the puppy so that she was cradling it like a baby. The dog began to sniff her neck and Cass giggled at how the wet nose and tiny hairs tickled her skin. It wasn't that great of a catch; if she had been a millisecond faster she could have grabbed the dog by the loose skin on the neck rather than its tail. "Pretty puppies."

Dick opened the door wide to let her in. "Did somebody decide to throw a party at my place and didn't tell me? Jason and Babs are here too."

As if his name spoken out loud summoned him from the depths of hell, Jason stepped into the room. "Yeah right Dickface, as if you're popular enough to have a party."

"Are we not having a party?" Barbara's voice floated in from somewhere in the apartment. "Then why the hell do we have so much alcohol?"

"It's for us, so we can forget just how bad Dick's cooking is," Jason informed the unseen woman.

Dick rolled his eyes and put the puppy back on the ground. Its claws dug into the carpet as it propelled itself into the kitchen. The puppy Cass was holding barked and started wriggling harder in her arms. She put it down and it chased after its sibling. "You don't _have_ to teach me how to cook, you know. I've spent 26 years not knowing and I've turned out just fine."

"Says who?" Jason and Barbara asked at the same time. The redheaded woman wheeled herself into the living room just behind Jason, the two dogs following close behind. "Hey Cass," She was greated. "I hope you've worked off that big breakfast because you've just been roped into being a taste-tester for Dick's exciting adventure into culinary."

She looked at all three of them warily; Babs was smirking, Jason's stance was relaxed but the way his arms were crossed made him look like he was preparing for war, and Dick looked downright apologetic. "I'll try not to poison you."

Cass's shoulders dropped and she shrugged off her jacket. Welp, at least she wasn't going to be alone today. "Lovely."

Dick took her jacket and went to hang it up while Cass took stock of the state of the room; it was clear that Dick had not puppy proofed his place in the slightest. A chewed up tennis shoe lay in the middle of the floor, the sofa had tears and was covered in hair (it looked like she wouldn't be sleeping here anymore), in general the place was even more of a mess than usual. It looked like a tornado went through the place followed by a frantic Wally West.

In the kitchen she found Dick and Jason in front of the range; the first looking annoyed and the second grinding his teeth. Two empty cartons of eggs lay on the ground and four more were perched on the counter. She sat down on the stool next to Babs, who was reading a novel in her lap. The smell of burnt eggs hung faintly in the air. One of the puppies, the one whose tip of the ears looked like they had been dipped in chocolate jumped onto her knee, tail wagging. Cass picked it up and started scratching underneath its chin.

"No, Dick, _Jesus Christ_ that is too much salt. Do you even want your motorcycle back?"

"You're the only person I know, Jason, who blackmails a person into learning how to take better care of themself."

"Well, maybe if you spent more time helping Alfred as a kid you would actually know how to cook. You might be Bruce's golden child, but I know for a fact that I was Alfred's."

"Well, _Goldie,_ maybe you should go fu-"

"Boys," Barbara cut in sharply, eyes never leaving the page. Their words might be sharp, but Cass could see that there was no heat in them. She had heard them have this argument time and time again; to them this was just as routine as her morning workouts. Cass watched as the boys' backs stiffened simultaneously and their jaws clicked shut. Truth be told, Barbara's clipped words were often more terrifying than Batman's growl.

"For the love- Dick the eggs are burning!"

The puppy in her lap repositioned itself and sat down, pressing its face into Cass's hand as she ran her fingers through its fur. The other one laid down and put its head ontop of Bab's feet. The older woman glanced down tenderly. "What a good dog."

Cass frowned and paused massaging the animal under the ears. "Names?" She asked inquisitively.

Dick looked up, turned to her and shrugged. "I. . . I haven't actually named them yet. I've just been calling them Thing One and Thing Two for now."

"I've been telling him he should name them Gawaine and Kay, after two of the Knights of the Round Table," Jason said as he elbowed Dick in the ribs, violently reminding him to tend to the eggs before he burned them again.

Barbara looked up from her book to give Cass a slight smirk. "Tim's rooting for Luke and Leia. Duke wants them to be named Pippin and Merry. I personally think the one on your lap should be named Daisy and the other one Peach. Surprisingly, Damian is pushing hard for Spot and Sparky, you know, the classic dog names."

Clearing her throat, Cass waited until Dick's gaze landed back on her. "Can I?"

He looked surprised. "Sure. I can't guarantee I'll go with whatever you suggest, though."

She stared at him until his mouth twitched uncomfortably. Pointing at the one on her lap, she said, "Happy," and the one on the floor, "Peace."

Jason snorted and shook his head. "No offense, Cass, but those are literally the dumbest dog names I have-"

"No, no." Dick cut him off. Some of the sadness Cass had seen him trying to hide so diligently lifted and he have her a genuine smile. "Those are perfect. Thank you, Cass."

Babs and Jason shared looks and both shrugged.

Cass sampled four different eggs of varying degrees of tastiness. (One tasted fine, two were burned, and the last had Barbara reaching for the garbage can faster than Cass could throw a batarang. " _Dick the salt was literally right next to your hand why the fuck did you use sugar?_ ") Jason had popped open a beer even though it was only two-thirty in the afternoon. Cass was mentally preparing herself for whatever fresh new horror might come off the skillet when Happy's ears perked up and Peace jolted to its feet. They heard the sound of a key in the door. Happy's tail thumped against her thigh and she let out a bark. Peace echoed the sound and the two of them took off as the door opened and the sound of vehement arguing glided in.

Dick cursed and shoved the spatula at Jason. "Oh lord, not again," He ran into the living room after his dogs. "Don't let them get out! Oh hi, Damian. ...Cassie?"

The newest Robin and Steph's girlfriend, Wonder Girl strutted into the kitchen. Both of the puppies were jumping over each other to lick Damian and Cassie glowered down at him with poorly concealed jealousy. Cass gave the other Cassandra in the room a big smile and a wave. The blonde returned the greeting, though her eyes were scanning her over like she was searching for something in particular.

"Hey Cass, Harper came at got your shirt this morning."

Her grin widened at the mention of her girlfriend. Harper was so sweet; she could have easily said no to her request (Cass may or may not have used her shirt as just an excuse to hear Harper's voice). She should do something nice for her. She had recently watched a television show with Duke for bonding time (which Cass was endlessly grateful for; there was this gray and red baseball shirt of Duke's that Cass had been eying for months now) where a dude bought flowers for his girlfriend as a declaration of love. When asked, Duke informed her that the purchase of flowers was a pretty regular courtship procedure to express to someone that they had been thinking of them. Would Harper like getting flowers? Probably; Cass would be thrilled to get flowers from her. After she left Dick's she was going to go buy the prettiest bouquet of flowers she could get her hands on.

Cassie was not finished with her story. "Yeah, were, were you aware that it was um. . . covered in blood?"

The rampant uncomfort and underlining awe made Cass want to laugh out loud, but that probably wouldn't be very polite. "Not my blood," She offered helpfully instead.

"Uh, yeah. Great."

"Grayson!" Damian snapped. "This, this," His lips started forming a word that Cass shot down with a heated glare that said _watch yourself, buddy_ , "She called me 'itty-bitty bat!'"

"Heh, that's cute, and what is Dick? Your mother? Gonna complain to him every time someone calls you a mean name?"

"Jason, be nice. Though, he is right. Itty-bitty bat does suit you."

"Babs, you're not helping. I'm sure that Cassie didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"My _feelings_ were not _hurt_ , Grayson-"

"Oh I totally meant to insult him."

"Cassie-"

"Why you-"

" _Boys!_ "

"Itty-bitty, teeny-weeny-"

"Todd, I swear to god-"

"How about we all just calm down,"

"-break your legs and shove them-"

"Tiny-whiny bat,"

"Hi, Babs, how've you been?"

"Doing good, Cassie, thanks for asking,"

"-cut off your-"

"Just try it, pipsqueak,"

Cass's amusement had been growing with every word thrown around, but she was starting to feel like perhaps she should intervene (someone was gonna start throwing punches, she wasn't sure who though - could be anyone) when they were interrupted by the shrill scream of the fire alarm.

*****

Harper's room was dark when Cass slid the window open and ducked inside. She closed it behind her to keep the chill night air from flooding the place and stood in the middle of the bedroom with a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She had found huge gerber daisies that had been dyed violet and navy and thought of Harper's hair. She put the flowers on the bed and arranged them prettily. The lights were on in the hall, but the light in Cullen's bedroom was off.

She had seen her girlfriend's younger brother this morning at the family breakfast; he had apprized her that he had tried to get Harper to come, but she had chosen to sleep in instead. He had taken a to-go bag from Alfred full of yummy breakfast to bring home to her. Cass stopped in the open doorway and peeked inside his room. She saw his figure buried underneath blankets, quietly sleeping away.

Cass's eyelids dropped and she took in a deep breath, tuning out the rest of the world. The soft sounds of Cullen's breathing filled her mind and she concentrated on that. It was so nice hearing somebody breathe. The sound of someone being alive was a special type of music; intoxicating in its own way. Being alive was so much better than being dead. The people she loved being alive was so much better than the crushing loneliness of the alternative.

She was vaguely aware of the door opening and Harper humming under her breath as she came in. She heard crinkling of plastic bags. Groceries, maybe? She went back to focusing on Cullen's inhale and exhale, centering herself around the noise. Harper's humming hitched as she turned into the hallway and spotted her girlfriend. She didn't interrupt her meditation, though, and continued to her bedroom. Cass's lips twitched upward as she waited for Harper to find her flowers.

Footsteps on the carpet, a little louder than normal. "Cass, are these for me?"

Cass opened her eyes and turned her head. Harper looked stunning in the dim light of the hallway; cheeks pink with a blush, eyes sparkling, lips opened slightly in a gasp. She clutched the bouquet between two hands, her weight shifted to the balls of her feet in anticipation. Cass beamed and nodded. Seconds later she found her arms full of a slightly taller young woman and daisies pressed into her back. Cass released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and pressed a kiss into the skin by Harper's left ear.

"Thank you, I love them. I lo- I just really love them."

Cass pulled back from their embrace to look Harper in the eye. She had been stuttering around that word for two weeks now and Cass had been trying to give her time, let her say it when she felt ready, but perhaps she needed a little push. She knew how Harper felt, and she knew how she felt. The feeling she got whenever Harper patiently helped her sound out words, kissed her on the nose, and twirled her around in the kitchen to the sounds of the radio was real, she knew it. The way her heart danced whenever Harper walked into the room, she didn't want to control that feeling anymore. She wanted to let it soar and jump and spin.

She touched Harper's cheek and pulled their faces close so that their foreheads were touching. Her girlfriend's breath shuddered and was hot on her nose. She caught those searching brown eyes and held the gaze firmly. "Harper," Cass began. She had practiced the words so often in her head, that it was almost effortless to let them break free. "I love you."

"Really?" A whisper, so full of wonder and hope.

Cass answered with a kiss that lingered. She wrapped one hand around Harper's waist, the other one reaching up to tangle in her hair. Harper's cradle tightened and she deepened the kiss. Music was playing in her mind and she used her hands and mouth to move to the rhythm, smearing the lyrics onto Harper's lips.

"We're going to wake Cullen up," Harper sighed, fingers rubbing circles into Cass's back with the hand that wasn't holding the daisies. "And I have frozen foods that are gonna melt. Also, I'm going to stick these in a vase. I think I have a vase? I might have to stick them in a cup for now until I can get a vase."

Reluctantly, Cass let go and watched her girlfriend head back into the kitchen. She took one last look at Cullen and gently shut his door. Backtracking to Harper's room, Cass started peeling off Steph's shirt. Every article of clothing she had stolen usually ended up finding their way back to their original owners, and this shirt would be no exception. The shade was pretty, but made her look like a lemon. She opened the closet for a shirt to sleep in, but her searching hands stopped at a certain black shirt. Cass had forgotten she had left this here.

It was the shirt she had been wearing the second time that she had met Harper; the one her girlfriend hand admitted was her favorite. Cass pulled it off the hanger and held it up. It had been a gift from Bruce and her brothers the day she had been adopted. That day, it felt so long ago, she had admitted to Harper that she didn't know what the words meant. She could see the blue script, but reading was still so foreign and new. Harper had offered to tell her what it said, but Cass had passionately refused. Finding out what the shirt said was something that she had to do for herself. It had taken her weeks to learn the words written on the blouse, but it had made the reward so much sweeter.

"My adopted family loves me," Harper's voice resonated from behind her. "Well, they're not the only ones. I love you, Cassandra Cain."

Cass slipped on the shirt and looked down at the word love. The thing that that had been deprived from her as a child. The thing she was surrounded by now. She held her hand out and Harper strode forward to grab it. For a moment she wished that somebody could have told her younger self how much better things would be. Just like the shirt, however, the wait was part of the reward. She had fought, she had struggled, and she had survived. Now she was living.

Harper yawned suddenly. "Oh sorry. I've been trying to study calc again and I think I've been learning more how to knock myself out than formulas. I went to the store to take a break and because I already ate Alfred's pancakes for lunch and I didn't really feel like eating the lint in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. I bought eggs, so I was thinking omelets and- ...Cass why do you suddenly look like you're going to throw up?"


End file.
